Two figures appear frequently on EnergyBoard: installed capacity, expressed in MW, and electricity generation, expressed in GWh. They are related, but they measure different things.
Installed capacity measures power
A capacity of 1,000 MW describes the theoretical maximum power of a set of installations at a given moment. It is the size of the available fleet. EnergyBoard’s solar, wind and hydropower pages therefore compare installed power.
Generation measures a quantity of energy
Annual generation adds up the electricity actually produced during the year. It is expressed in MWh, GWh or TWh. A country can have a large installed fleet yet generate less than another if its plants operate less often or have lower availability.
The capacity factor connects the two
The capacity factor reflects how much a facility is effectively used over time. Solar depends on irradiation, wind on wind conditions, hydropower on water availability and nuclear on operating and outage periods. Two 1,000 MW fleets can therefore produce very different annual volumes.
MW = available power. GWh = energy actually generated over a period.
Why EnergyBoard keeps the indicators separate
Mixing capacity and generation would create misleading comparisons. EnergyBoard therefore publishes installed-capacity rankings separately from the electricity generation ranking, while country pages help connect both views.
For the units themselves, see the energy units guide and the EnergyBoard glossary.